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7 Ways You Can Spring Clean your Job Search and Get Hired

Written by: Kathryn Tuggle03/22/13 - 7:30 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Springtime has always been the ideal time of year to do a little life maintenance -- dusting off the curtains, clearing out the garage -- and giving your job search the spring cleaning it so desperately deserves.

No matter how long you've been seeking that perfect job, now's the time to forget about the excuses you've been using for the past six months, evaluate what you've been doing and see how can you can improve.

It's not always easy knowing where to start to freshen things up, though. Our experts weigh in with the best ways to shake the dust off your job hunt and spring into a new career.

According to a survey by online recruiting and resume tool TheLadders, 86% of recruiters and HR professionals review a candidate's social networking profiles. Of those, 70% have turned down a candidate based on something seen on their online profiles.

It's a fact that most companies are now using their social media channels to look for job candidates, says Ben Martinez, HR director at HireVue, a digital recruiting platform company based in Salt Lake City.

"If there is a specific company that you want to work for, be sure to connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other relevant social channels. Use these channels for due diligence and for connecting with recruiters and hiring managers. Also, check to see if they have a dedicated social media page for job postings."

Don't forget to update your LinkedIn profile, which Martinez describes as "your online resume and portfolio rolled into one." Job-seekers should make sure that hiring managers can see their best professional profile online and on paper.

Also, while you're focusing your energies online, don't be afraid to create a job search "concierge," he says. Search tools such as Google Alerts and social monitoring tools including TweetDeck and HootSuite can help bring jobs right to your inbox.

"Create saved searches for a variety of jobs and receive alerts as relevant tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts are blasted," Martinez says.